It is a warm, sunny Saturday morning here and I have been waiting for this type of morning to go through the garage to get ready to rearrange. I have a tendency to hold onto things that I “might use someday”, but oftentimes I don’t and they just take up space. So if I pick something up and I haven’t used it in the past year, it’s either going in the trash or the burn pile. Between wood scraps and empty cigar boxes alone, I’ve got plenty of things to keep the fire going.
Accompanying me this morning is a 20 Acre Farm Robusto by Drew Estate. This is my first time with this cigar, and one that wasn’t really on my radar. However, I thought it was worth picking up for review primarily because of the Florida Sun Grown tobacco in the filler. That Florida Sun Grown tobacco is grown on the 20 acre farm that cigar gets its name from. I do not have a ton of experience with this tobacco, however, I have always been intrigued by it. I do not know whether or not it will make much of a contribution or not in this blend given the variety of tobaccos used.
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Honduran Habano
Filler: Nicaragua & U.S.A Florida Sun Grown
Vitola: 5 ½ x 54 Robusto
Price: $12.40 MSRP
Release Date: December 2021
Company Website: www.drewestate.com
I’m indifferent to the presentation of this cigar. I don’t love the band or the cedar sleeve, but I don’t necessarily mind them either. The cigar is very firmly packed and heavy. The wrap is super clean and seamless. It has a very soft feel to it as well. The cigar smells odd; a bit like shrimp with light Old Bay seasoning. I’ve never had seafood flavors or smells in a cigar. The cold draw is near flavorless. Maybe a little coconut flavor. First light is medium-full bodied smoke with an equal level of flavor. It’s very woody to start. There’s a bit of a toasted nuttiness and a bit of grassy bitterness. The retrohale is pretty potent with some pepper up front followed by some wood and spices. About a half inch in and there’s still a lot of wood and toasted nuts, but now with the addition of some citrus tang. Nearing the end of the first third there’s a slight creaminess joining the citrus tang. The toasted nuttiness has subsided. There’s a bit of grassiness hanging on through the finish. Hitting halfway there’s not much to report on. It’s rolling along with about the same profile and still performing wonderfully. The only notable profile update is a sweet cream on the retrohale. Moving into the final third, it’s staying super consistent in terms of flavor and performance, so there’s not much to report still. There’s still plenty of wood, some pepper, citrus, slight grassiness, and cream. Coming to an end the only notable change was a bump in the level of pepper. The performance was perfect throughout the hour and 40 minute smoking experience.
Overall Experience
This cigar was a straight shooter. The profile was solid and consistent, but a bit too consistent for me. I think the profile was nice, but it was not something that I enjoyed enough to want to experience it for nearly two hours straight. It had some usual suspects for a Connecticut shade cigar like nuts, grass, and cream, but also had a nice level of wood, pepper, and citrus to round out the profile. I think that this cigar would be a good one to try if you like consistency in a medium-full bodied and flavored profile, with no strength. It also performed perfectly and had a pretty long smoke time, so that is always a plus.
Try the cigar yourself at Small Batch Cigars and let me know what you think! Use code “Whiskey” to get 10% off your entire order. Plus, sign up and begin earning 5% back in rewards points with each purchase.
Feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, criticisms, or just to talk at @guitarsandcigarsfarm on Instagram, or via email at trevor@whiskeyandwhitetails.com.